I am looking for some advice about a job offer I received from the American School of Puebla. I will give you a little bit of my background to put things in perspective. I am a preschool teacher in Lexington, KY (I have been here for about 8 months and prior to that I lived and taught in Southern CA). I have a preschool teaching permit from California. I have a B.A. in Philosophy. I just started an M.A. in Human Development with a specialization in Leadership in Education and Human Services. It is an online program through Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, CA. I have been thinking about teaching abroad for many years and finally decided to start applying. I am only applying for jobs teaching preschool as I do not have any ESL teaching experience nor am I certified to do so.

I have I applied for the job through Global-ERS. The job offer is for teaching 5 year olds. The hours would be 7:55am -2:00pm with occasional Saturdays and afternoons. Classes start August 24th, 2015 and end July 14th, 2016. The salary offered is 14,277.00 pesos per month gross/before taxes for a full time schedule of 30 hours a week. The salary will begin in August 2015 and go through August 2016. There is an annual Christmas bonus of one month salary. For teachers who began in August the bonus will be 5/12 of one months salary.

Other benefits are free medical care through the Mexican Social Security System and the school provides additional private medical insurance. 10 personal days can be taken through the school year and compensation will be given for personal days not taken. My flight out there will be paid by the school and so will my flight back at the end of the school year. The school will help arrange and pay for my work visa. There is a Christmas break from 12/19-1/6 and two weeks of Spring break. Free classes in Spanish are provided by the school. The school does not own apartments, but I will be given 3000 pesos a month for housing.

I really appreciate all who take the time to read through this long post and can offer any advice about what they think of this offer. I am a total newbie and I am trying to decide if I can live comfortably with this offer. I have about $500.00 in bills that needs to be paid every month. I am also interested to hear from anyone who has worked for this school and or lives in Puebla. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from everyone!

I think that's a very good package. Hour and benefits are fairly standard. The flight goes above and beyond. Taxes will be about 20% (roughly 10% income tax and 10% social security tax). You should be able to find housing for 3000 a month. But possibly not near that school. Puebla has a decent public transport system but it can take about an hour to cross the city at rush hour. It's pretty bike-able if your into that.

Thank you so much for your reply. I have read so many posts throughout this website and have found all of the posts that I've read of yours to be full of such helpful information. I can possibly get my debt down to $300 usd a month, but my debt is definitely my biggest worry. Thank you for being a voice of reason.

Your info on the tax information was a confirmation of what I was told by Gobal-ERS. I forgot to mention in my original post that when I asked about how much taxes would be that Global-ERS said taxes would be about 3000 pesos a month.

I was worried about not taking my car and using public transportation. It's good to hear that it is doable. I would definitely prefer to have a short commute. Currently my drive to work is about 8 mins. Biking would be something I'd be up for.

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights and helping me make a more informed decision. I may just wait until I am able to get my debt paid off; I don't want to put myself in a bad situation financially.

Thank you Jultime! I learned so much from your "midlife career change" thread. I appreciate your realistic advice. I am leaning toward getting my debt paid down and then applying for jobs. It's hard to come to that decision, but I do not want to be under stress financially.

I plan on making a budget with the information I received from Global-ERS, you and MotherF and then I'll go from there.

Nope, I don't think you'd live comfortably here because of the $500 USD you're paying out per month in bills.

I figured that after taxes and your USD bill payment you'd have roughly 6,000 pesos left to pay rent and buy food. Food will run close to 500 pesos a week for one person.

She is getting a rent allowance of an additional 3000 pesos. I agree with MF that she should be able to find an apartment in Puebla for 3000. If she can get her debt down to say, 300 dollars a month, it would be doable. 500 dollars is going to be about half her salary, so really tight. On the other hand, she might be able to pick up a few private classes to add a few extra pesos to the budget.

Nope, I don't think you'd live comfortably here because of the $500 USD you're paying out per month in bills.

I figured that after taxes and your USD bill payment you'd have roughly 6,000 pesos left to pay rent and buy food. Food will run close to 500 pesos a week for one person.

She is getting a rent allowance of an additional 3000 pesos. I agree with MF that she should be able to find an apartment in Puebla for 3000. If she can get her debt down to say, 300 dollars a month, it would be doable. 500 dollars is going to be about half her salary, so really tight. On the other hand, she might be able to pick up a few private classes to add a few extra pesos to the budget.

Puebla has a lot of universities, so you could reasonably get pick up work in either English conversation or helping professors polish their conference presentations and academic papers in English.

I have to consider maintaining a healthy work/life balance; especially because I will be doing my masters program.

If you're contemplating taking work on the side to supplement your income, determine how much time to allot each week to your studies to ensure you don't fall behind or jeopardize the quality of your homework.

I think that's a pretty standard, and perhaps better than most, package for the lower-tier international schools in Mexico. The only ones I know of that are better are ASF in Mexico City and Monterrey, but you'd have to account for living costs.

If you really need more money that that, American schools in Central America generally pay 1800-2000 USD with all the same benefits you mention. But Mexico is a better place to live than most of those - it's a tradeoff.

I think that's a pretty standard, and perhaps better than most, package for the lower-tier international schools in Mexico. The only ones I know of that are better are ASF in Mexico City and Monterrey, but you'd have to account for living costs.

If you really need more money that that, American schools in Central America generally pay 1800-2000 USD with all the same benefits you mention. But Mexico is a better place to live than most of those - it's a tradeoff.

Hi!

I'd be interested to know about the American schools in Central America. Links to websites perhaps?

And to mteller, I am considering a similar offer in Baja Del Sur. After considering (for a few hours lol), I think my salary of 14000 pesos a month (this doesn't include any additional stipend for housing or anything) might be uncomfortable for me. So I may not take it although the school and the experience I'm sure would be amazing.

I have a thread put out today for anyone in this thread who could offer any additional input. It is the "Living and Working in San Jose Del Cabo" thread.